Hari Om Parents,
Below was covered in the class this week.
Shloka Chanting:
- We started the class with our opening prayers.
- We started the class with opening prayers and chanted verse 4 of Mahishasuramardini Stotra from My Prayers book. Please refer to page 40 in My Prayers book.
Gita Chanting:
- Class chanted along with Bhagavad Gita Video of Chapter 5, Verses 22 & 23
Link : BG5 - V22 - V23
Lesson:
India the Sacred Land:
Sacred Yatras & Holy Cities
In this section, covered the following points with the help of this presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1u87h4AQZqWSwJDKocYeCMIlgXV3T9WGm_cmU5eJYXrk/edit?usp=sharing
- Recap of Chaar Dham Yatra
- The Other Chaar Dham Yatra
- Rameswaram
- Dwarka
- Puri & What is Juggernaut?
- Badrinath
- Famous Yatras:
- Manasarovar Yatra
- Amarnath
- Twelve Jyotirlinga Pilgrimage
- Twelve Jyotirlinga Pilgrimage Names & Locations
- Somnath Jyotirlinga
- Kumbh Mela
- Holy Cities of India - covered 10 of these
- Sapta Puri - Seven Holiest Cities in India
- Summary of Pilgrimage in India
In this class, students continued learning about the Char Dham Yatra and other renowned pilgrimages, including Mansarovar and the Amarnath Yatra. Many were already familiar with sacred cities like Dwarka, Mathura, Vrindavan, Kashi, and Puri. The discussion on the Kumbh Mela sparked great enthusiasm, as students had heard many stories about it from their parents and relatives. We explored the significance & story of the Kumbh Mela at a high level and concluded the session with a quote from Swami Tapovan Ji, emphasizing how God is present everywhere, yet our ego prevents us from recognizing the divine.
Mahabharata:
After the wedding celebrations, Drupada sends his messenger to Hastinapura for a peace mission. Meantime both Pandavas and Kauravas begin gathering armies for the possible war.
Duryodhana and Arjuna reached Dwaraka to seek Lord Krishna's help. Lord was asleep. Arjuna stood with folded arms at his feet while Duryodhana sat on the cushion by the head. When Lord woke up his eyes fell on Arjuna and gave him a warm welcome. Later he turned to Duryodhana and welcomed him too. Duroyodhana explained to the Lord the reason for their visit. Lord Krishna offered them a choice of himself or a large Narayani army and had Arjuna choose first. Arjuna chose Krishna alone instead of the army. Duryodhana was internally very happy and took the Narayani army. Lord was very pleased with Arjuna's devotion towards him.
Salya, king of Madradesa, uncle of Nakula and Sahadeva was on his way to Pandavas camp to offer support for the war. Duryodhana tricks him with great hospitality and makes him commit to support Kauravas' army. Salya later goes back to Yudhishtira disappointedly and assures him to demoralalize Karna when he gets to be his charioteer.
Meanwhile Drupada's messenger's proposal was not welcomed by Dhritarashtra. He sent Sanjaya back to Pandavas with a mixed message. Yudhishtira politely sent Sanjaya back with a demand for their share of the kingdom. As a second proposal to avoid the war, he even agrees to settle for 5 villages.
Announcements:
House Spirit day is on Feb 23rd. Please have kids wear the color red to the class.
Thanks,
Sirisha & Sachin
